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Played
January 28, 2012 9:00 PM GMT
Camp El Madrigal — Villarreal
Referee: José Teixeira
Attendance: 20000
January 28, 2012 9:00 PM GMT
Camp El Madrigal — Villarreal
Referee: José Teixeira
Attendance: 20000
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| Villarreal | 11.00 | 10.00 | 20.00 | 13.00 |
| Draw | 1.36 | 6.00 | 1.25 | 6.35 |
| Barcelona | 4.20 | 1.25 | 4.30 | 1.25 |
La Liga Preview: Villarreal - Barcelona
The Catalan side return to La Liga duty and travel to El Madrigal days after their Copa del Rey progression against Real Madrid
By Martin Macdonald
Getty Images
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PROBABLE LINE-UPS |
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VILLARREAL  Diego Lopez Angel, Musacchio, Gonzalo, Oriol Valero, Senna, Bruno, Cani Ruben, Barroso |
BARCELONA
 Valdes Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal Xavi, Mascherano, Busquets Messi, Cesc, Pedro |
Pep Guardiola's Barcelona side picked up injuries to key players in their 2-2 Clasico draw with Real Madrid on Wednesday. Andres Iniesta has been ruled out for three weeks after coming off with a hamstring tear on his left leg, while Alexis Sanchez could also miss out, too.
David Villa and Ibrahim Afellay are absentees with a broken leg and a ligament injury keeping the duo out long term. Victor Valdes will come back into the side to resume La Liga duty and Javier Mascherano may be drafted in to the first XI for the match at El Madrigal.
Jose Molina will welcome a number of his first team squad back into training in the past week or so. Carlos Marchena, Mateo Musacchio and Javi Camunas have all returned to fitness after shaking off niggling injuries.
Jose Molina will welcome a number of his first team squad back into training in the past week or so. Carlos Marchena, Mateo Musacchio and Javi Camunas have all returned to fitness after shaking off niggling injuries.
Wakaso Mubarak has also returned to training after undergoing a successful nose operation. However, Jose Catala is still absent after surgery on his right knee at the start of January. Giuseppe Rossi is also still injured after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament at the start of the season.
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DID YOU KNOW? |
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Villarreal have picked up 16 of their 19 points at home this season. The only team to beat
them at El Madrigal this campaign were Levante, who won 3-0.
- The Yellow Submarine have beaten Barca eight times (home and away) since first winning promotion to La Liga in 1998. The only team with more victories against the Catalans in that period is Deportivo La Coruna, with nine wins.
- Jose Molina's side are unbeaten in their last five matches at El Madrigal, winning three times and drawing twice.
- Barcelona have won the past three encounters at El Madrigal, with the last victory coming on April 2nd 2011, when they came out with a narrow 1-0 win.
- The last time a club made up at least five points in the second half of the season was in 2002-03 when Real Madrid overtook Real Sociedad. Los Blancos were five points behind after 19 matches and had a two-point lead over Sociedad in the final standings.
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Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
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Villarreal 0-4 FC Barcelona
- 15.47 %
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Villarreal 0-3 FC Barcelona
- 14.65 %
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Villarreal 1-3 FC Barcelona
- 11.81 %
| Spain - Primera Division (LIGA) | Jan 28, 2012 | Villarreal 0 - FC Barcelona 0 |
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| Spain - Primera Division (LIGA) | Aug 29, 2011 | FC Barcelona 5 - Villarreal 0 |
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| Spain - Primera Division (LIGA) | Apr 2, 2011 | Villarreal 0 - FC Barcelona 1 |
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| Spain - Primera Division (LIGA) | Nov 13, 2010 | FC Barcelona 3 - Villarreal 1 |
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| Spain - Primera Division (LIGA) | May 1, 2010 | Villarreal 1 - FC Barcelona 4 |
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Villarreal
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| May 18, 2013 | Villarreal 4 - Girona FC 1 | ESP2 |
| May 12, 2013 | Alcorcon C.F. 1 - Villarreal 3 | ESP2 |
| May 5, 2013 | Villarreal 2 - Elche 3 | ESP2 |
| Apr 27, 2013 | Lugo 0 - Villarreal 0 | ESP2 |
| Apr 21, 2013 | Villarreal 1 - Racing 0 | ESP2 |
FC Barcelona
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| May 12, 2013 | Atletico Madrid 1 - FC Barcelona 2 | LIGA |
| May 5, 2013 | FC Barcelona 4 - Betis 2 | LIGA |
| May 1, 2013 | FC Barcelona 0 - FC Bayern München 3 | UCL |
| Apr 27, 2013 | Athletic Bilbao 2 - FC Barcelona 2 | LIGA |
| Apr 23, 2013 | FC Bayern München 4 - FC Barcelona 0 | UCL |
| Returns: | Villarreal £110.00 |
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Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 | |
| Returns: | Draw £60.00 |
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Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 | |
| Returns: | Barcelona £42.00 |
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Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
| 13 | Diego López Rodríguez | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Gonzalo Rodríguez | Defender |
| 3 | Joan Oriol | Defender |
| 4 | Mateo Musacchio | Defender |
| - | Ángel | Defender |
| 10 | Cani | Midfielder |
| 19 | Marcos Senna | Midfielder |
| 20 | Borja Valero Iglesias | Midfielder |
| 21 | Soriano | Midfielder |
| 15 | Marco Ruben | Striker |
| - | Joselu | Striker |
| - | César | Goalkeeper |
| 24 | Carlos Marchena | Defender |
| 17 | Cristian Zapata | Defender |
| 14 | Mario Gaspar | Defender |
| 20 | Jonathan De Guzmán | Midfielder |
| 8 | Gonzalo Castellani | Midfielder |
| 18 | Javi Camuñas | Midfielder |
| 1 | Víctor Valdés | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Daniel Alves | Defender |
| 3 | Piqué | Defender |
| 5 | Carles Puyol | Defender |
| 21 | Adriano | Defender |
| 22 | Éric Abidal | Defender |
| 4 | Cesc Fàbregas | Midfielder |
| 6 | Xavi | Midfielder |
| 14 | Javier Mascherano | Midfielder |
| 16 | Busquets | Midfielder |
| 10 | Lionel Messi | Striker |
| 13 | José Pinto Colorado | Goalkeeper |
| 11 | Thiago Alcántara | Midfielder |
| 34 | Jonathan Dos Santos | Midfielder |
| 30 | Sergi Roberto | Midfielder |
| 9 | Alexis Sánchez | Striker |
| 23 | Cuenca | Striker |
| 37 | Tello | Striker |
| Borja Valero Iglesias | |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Squad Number: | 20 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Spaniard has been Villarreal's most consistent player this season, and with Rossi sidelined, he is steadily becoming their key player. In terms of keeping the ball, The Yellow Submarine are one of the best in the league, so Valero will need to be instrumental in trying to create play in the final third.
| Xavi | |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Squad Number: | 6 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
This game is usually a midfield battle, so it will be important for maestro Xavi to dictate the play for Barca, as he usually does so effectively. Villarreal also love to keep the ball so Xavi must aim to be ruthless to ensure that his side keep the ball at El Madrigal.
Villarreal are not the impressive team of the past three or four seasons. The key departure of Santi Cazorla and the injury to Giuseppe Rossi have hurt them this campaign. In their previous match with Barcelona they lost heavily in a 5-0 defeat at Camp Nou, so this shows they can no longer cope with the big guns. Expect a comfortable victory Pep for Guardiola's side.
Results
Times In BST
Live
Final
scheduled
Suspended
Cancelled
Postponed
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Lionel Messi Striker Barcelona |
46 | 4 |
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Cristiano Ronaldo Striker Real Madrid |
34 | 6 |
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Radamel Falcao Striker Atl. Madrid |
28 | 8 |
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Roberto Soldado Striker Valencia |
21 | 5 |
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Negredo Striker Sevilla |
20 | 3 |
